Oman mediates indirect US-Iran talks over Tehran's nuclear program
[February 06, 2026]
By JON GAMBRELL
MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Oman mediated indirect talks Friday between Iran and
the United States over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, seeking
to deescalate tensions between the nations after Washington bombed
Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran launched a bloody crackdown on
nationwide protests.
Oman issued a public statement acknowledging the talks after Associated
Press journalists watched Iranian and American officials separately
visit a palace on the outskirts of Muscat to speak to the sultanate's
foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi.
It wasn’t immediately clear if that was the end of the talks for the
day. However, the palace stood empty after the convoys left.
The two countries returned Friday to Oman, a sultanate on the eastern
edge of the Arabian Peninsula, months after rounds of meetings turned to
ash following Israel’s launch of a 12-day war against Iran back in June.
The U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during that war, likely destroying
many of the centrifuges that spun uranium to near weapons-grade purity.
Israel’s attacks devastated Iran’s air defenses and targeted its
ballistic missile arsenal as well.
U.S. officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio believe Iran’s
theocracy is now at its weakest point since its 1979 Islamic Revolution
after nationwide protests last month represented the greatest challenge
to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule. Khamenei’s
forces responded with a crackdown that killed thousands and reportedly
saw tens of thousands arrested — and spurred new military threats by
U.S. President Donald Trump to target the country.
With the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships in the
region, along with more fighter jets, the U.S. now likely has the
military firepower to launch an attack if it wanted. But whether attacks
could be enough to force Iran to change its ways — or potentially topple
its government — remains far from a sure thing.
Meanwhile, Gulf Arab nations fear an attack could spark a regional war
dragging them in as well. That threat is real — already, U.S. forces
shot down an Iranian drone near the Lincoln and Iran attempted to stop a
U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Omani palace hosts talks
The palace, near Muscat's international airport, had been used by Oman
in earlier talks between Iran and the U.S. in 2025. AP journalists saw
Iranian officials at the palace and later returning to their hotel.
Only after the Iranian vehicles left did another convoy including an SUV
flying the American flag enter the palace grounds, where it stayed for
about an hour and a half.
After that, Oman’s Foreign Ministry published a statement saying al-Busaidi
met separately with Araghchi, then with U.S. Mideast special envoy Steve
Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
“The consultations focused on preparing the appropriate circumstances
for resuming the diplomatic and technical negotiations by ensuring the
importance of these negotiations, in light of the parties’ determination
to ensure their success in achieving sustainable security and
stability,” the Omani announcement said.
Neither the Americans nor the Iranians offered any readout of the
meetings.
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This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left,
pictured in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right,
White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, on March 19,
2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
Few details on talks ahead of meeting
Details remained sparse even before the talks began. Officials at
Oman's borders on Thursday showed particular concern over anyone
carrying cameras into the sultanate before the negotiations.
On the Iranian side, Araghchi wrote on X that “Iran enters diplomacy
with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year.”
“Commitments need to be honored,” he wrote. “Equal standing, mutual
respect and mutual interest are not rhetoric — they are a must and
the pillars of a durable agreement.”
A top adviser to Khamenei also appeared to offer the theocracy's
support to the 63-year-old career diplomat.
Araghchi “is a skilled, strategic and trustworthy negotiator at the
highest levels of decision-making and military intelligence,” Ali
Shamkhani wrote on X. “Soldiers of the nation in the armed forces &
generals of diplomacy, acting under the order of the Leader, will
safeguard the nation’s interests.”
On the U.S. side, the talks led by Witkoff, a 68-year-old
billionaire New York real estate mogul and longtime friend to Trump.
Traveling with Witkoff on his Mideast trip so far is Jared Kushner,
Trump’s son-in-law who in recent weeks has shared proposals for the
Gaza Strip and took part in trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine
in Abu Dhabi earlier on the trip.
The two men had traveled from Abu Dhabi to Qatar on Thursday night
for meetings there, the Qatari-funded satellite news network Al
Jazeera reported. Qatar, which shares an offshore natural gas field
in the Persian Gulf with Iran, also hosts a major U.S. military
installation that Iran attacked in the June war.
Nuclear program on the table at the least
It remains unclear just what terms Iran will be willing to negotiate
at the talks. Tehran has maintained that these talks only will be on
its nuclear program. However, Al Jazeera reported that diplomats
from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran
would halt enrichment for three years, send its highly enriched
uranium out of the country and pledge “not initiate the use of
ballistic missiles.”
Russia had signaled it would take the uranium, but Shamkhani in an
interview earlier this week had said ending the program or shipping
out the uranium were nonstarters.
Rubio, America's top diplomat, said Wednesday that the talks needed
to include all those issues.
“I’m not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we’re going
to try to find out," he said. ___
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from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation.
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